Atelierartisanal's Blog

My collection of dry pigments in the studio

I’ve just completed a series of panels executed in encaustic. The palette I used for this work consisted mainly of the same dry pigments that I keep on hand for egg tempera.  (See illustration to the left.) I said “mainly”, because I also began to supplement my palette of home-made colours with the bars of ready made encaustic colours from R&F pigments that I had purchased at my local art supply store. In this way, a few additional colours crept in, most notably Naples Yellow (which I had purchased in search of a Yellow Ochre – which it is not).

Thus, during this process of painting with encaustic I became motivated to pay increased attention to my palette choices. Yes, technically, you can use the same dried pigments that you might use for egg tempera but that doesn’t mean you should. The principle caveat here being toxicity.

I gleaned this information recently from Kraemer Pigmente: “For encaustic, pigments are melted into wax or a wax-resin-mixture. It is very important not to use toxic pigments with this technique. Pigments used for encaustic must not contain lead, arsenic or cadmium. […] The pigments should not be heated over the melting point of the wax and they should not be burnt. The pigments listed here are not safe for use in candle making. We recommend tests prior to the final application. Caution: Heated wax is a fire hazard and should never be left unattended. Wax vapors and fumes are hazardous for the health and should not be inhaled. An exhaust system should be installed to pull out wax vapors.”

My own nota bene: I do not handle lead and arsenic in the form of dried pigments but I DO use the (yellow and red) cadmium colours. In addition, the ready made pigment cakes from R&F paints DO include the cadmium colours as well as the above mentioned Naples Yellow. These are expressly advised against by Kraemer Pigmente. Since I trust Kraemer Pigmente – use these colours with caution (or rather, don’t use them). In any case be sure to install a good ventilation system in your studio and use a vapour mask  I purchased a 3M 4251+ disposable half mask and also wore a set of eye goggles. I highly recommend both! 

My palette:

• Ultramarine blue (a cool blue)
• Thalo blue ( a warm blue)
• Cadmium yellow medium (a warm yellow)
• Permanent Lemon Yellow (a cool yellow)
• Cadmium red medium (a warm red)
• Alizarine crimson (a cool red)
• Viridian green
• Venetian red (red iron oxide)
• Raw umber (fantastic for shadows)
• Burnt siena (great for achieving quick grounded warmth)
• Yellow ochre (I used this for all my imprimatura’s )
• Mars black
• Titanium white

Dried pigments suggested from Kraemer Pigmente for encaustic

Historic pigments

• Smalt Egyptian Blue
• Han-Blue
• Han-Purple
• Alba Albula
• Red Jasper
• Côte d’Azur Violet
• Brown red slate
• Jade
• Rock Crystal
• Fuchsite
• Gold Ochre from Saxony
• Burgundy Ochres
• Spanish Red Ochre
• Brown Earth from Otranto
• Moroccan Ochres
• Onyx Black
• Obsidian Black
• Sodalite
• Lapis Lazuli
• Verona Green Earth
• Bavarian Green Earth
• Ochres from Andalusia
• Nero Bernino
• Russische Green Earth  
• Aegirine
• Epidote
• Green Jasper

Synthetic-organic Pigments

• Phthalo Green Dark
• Phthalo Green, yellowish
• Phthalo Blue, primary
• Phthalo Blue, Royal Blue
• Phthalo Blue, reddish
• Anthraquinone Blue
• Orange DPP RA
• Scarlet Red DPP EK
• Red DPP BO
• Ruby DPP-TR
• Scarlet Red
• CPT Scarlet Red
• Permanent Red
• Permanent Red FRLL
• CPT-Red
• Permanent Yellow light
• Permanent Yellow medium
• Isoindole Yellow
• Pyramid-Yellow medium
• Quinacridone Pink D
• Dioxazine Violet
• Maroon
• Quinophthalone Orange
• Pyranthrone Orange
• Quinacridone Gold, red-gold
• Alizarine Crimson Light
• Alizarine Crimson Dark
• Brilliant Yellow
• Isoindolinon Yellow
• Isoindole Yellow-Orange
• Quinacridone Violet
• Isoindol Orange
• Studio Yellow
• Studio Red